Stackable Armored Vehicle

ABSTRACT

Embodiments comprise a stackable vehicle which may be supported from, or serve as support to, another like vehicle. The vehicle includes a frame and a body supported from the frame. The body includes a weight bearing roof Wheel assemblies are mounted for rotation on the frame. The body includes recesses from the roof of the body to accommodate location of wheel assemblies of a like vehicle supported on the roof Support and mounting points are located on the roof and on the frame respectively to fix location of a vehicle to be carried on top of a supporting vehicle.

BACKGROUND

Military and emergency services frequently require vehicles which can bereadily transported by ship, heavy lift aircraft or train to remotelocations. Motor vehicles are typically relatively light per unit ofvolume, and accordingly place a greater demand on available space ascompared to the weight carrying capacity of the means of conveyance.Available space may be considered in terms of both floor area andvolume. There is a need to arrange vehicles in a compact fashion.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,082 to Hvolka proposed a Multi-Purpose ServiceVehicle which was based on a U-shaped frame allowing vehicles to beinterlocked. This arrangement was intended to provide a compound vehicleof increased pulling power, though it also allowed a group of vehiclesto be stored occupying an area somewhat smaller in size than theexternal dimensions of the vehicles would suggest, though this aspect ofthe system was not discussed.

Intermodal containers have often been stacked to minimize floor or deckarea occupied. U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,817 extended this concept tointegrating such containers with vehicle trailers, allowing the trailersto be stacked. Supporting wheels for the trailer were disposed rearwardfrom the container so that a supporting container did not interfere withprojection of the wheels below the upper surface of the supportingcontainer/trailer combination. The lower vehicle supports the stackedvehicle at corner “hard points” referred to in the art as cornercastings or corner fittings. U.S. Pat. No. 7,354,231 taught anintermodal truck allowing stacking from like trucks. Essentially theupper surfaces of the vehicles were strengthened and modified to allow asecond vehicle to be placed on a first supported on its wheels. Thevehicles also provide corner fittings to allow a container to bedirectly stacked on a vehicle.

SUMMARY

Embodiments described herein relate to a stackable vehicle. In oneembodiment, a stackable vehicle comprises a vehicle frame, a weightbearing vehicle body supported from the vehicle frame and having anupper surface, a plurality of lower support fittings distributed aboutand depending from the vehicle frame, and a plurality of upper mountingfittings distributed about the upper surface of the weight bearingvehicle body.

In another embodiment, a vehicle comprises four roof support pointsdisposed at vertices of a rectangle, a vehicle frame, and an armoredbody including a roof from which the four roof support points aresupported and which provides for transferring loads imposed on the fourroof support points to the vehicle frame.

In an additional embodiment, a vehicle comprises a frame, a bodyincluding a weight bearing roof, the body being supported on the frame,wheel assemblies mounted for rotation from the frame, and body recessesfrom the roof of the body to accommodate location of wheel assemblies ofa like vehicle supported on the roof

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of an embodiment of a stackable vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the vehicle of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front/rear elevation of the vehicle of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the vehicle of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the ladder frame for thevehicle of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation illustrating stacking of a like vehicle onthe vehicle of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the figures and to FIGS. 1-4 in particular, a stackablevehicle 10 is illustrated. Vehicle 10 is a general purpose militaryvehicle having an armored body 12 supported on a truck chassis or ladderframe 22. Armored body 12 exhibits a high degree of longitudinal andlatitudinal symmetry in the horizontal plane, the vehicle 10 beingintended to be operable from either a forward facing frontoperator/driver station 24 or a rear facing aft operator/driver station25. The operator stations 24, 25 are located on the longitudinal axis(center line) of the vehicle.

Armored body 12 is also a weight bearing vehicle body mounted to thevehicle frame 12. Body 12 transfers loads imposed thereon as well as itsown weight to the frame. Armored body 12 has an upper surface or roof 26in which are located four mounting fittings 18 for receiving a loadequipped with co-operating fittings. An example of such co-operatingfittings is frame mounted support fittings 20. In other words, vehicle10 can be supported from the roof of a like vehicle by lower/framemounted support fittings 20 or can support a like vehicle from roofmounted or upper mounting fittings 18. See FIG. 6.

As already mentioned, armored body 12 exhibits longitudinal andlatitudinal symmetry in the horizontal plane. This symmetry extends torecessing the armored body 12 at the upper corners of the vehicle.Corner recesses 30 are sized and positioned to accommodate the locationof wheels from a like vehicle carried on the roof 26 of the armored body26. Front wheels 16 and rear wheels 14 are mounted for rotation usingconventional suspension components from the frame 22 of vehicle 10. Inone embodiment the corner recesses 30 are provided at the left and rightfront of the vehicle and the left and right rear of the vehicle.Reinforced fender indentations 31 for receiving tires mounted on thewheel assemblies may be provided. It is conceivable that in alternativeembodiments recesses would not necessarily be at the corners of a bodyand might not be symmetrically located front to rear, however, symmetrysupports better weight balance of the vehicle from front to rear whichimproves stability upon stacking.

Roof mounting points 18 and frame support points 20 are placed inwardlyfrom the sides of the vehicle and are arranged at the vertices ofimaginary rectangles along the bottom and top of the vehicle 10. Pairscomprising one roof mounting point and one frame support point 20 arevertically aligned as shown in FIG. 5. Further referring to FIG. 5,armored body 12 is represented in phantom to better illustrate someconcepts disclosed herein, including vertical alignment of a supportfitting 20 and a mounting fitting 18. Frame 22 is a ladder frameincluding a pair of longitudinal frame rails 41, 43 and cross memberssuch as cross member 45. Four frame support fittings 20 are located twoto each frame rail 41, 43. Roof mounting fittings 18 are embedded inroof 26 of body 12.

1-5. (canceled)
 6. A vehicle comprising: a vehicle frame; an armoredbody including a roof, the armored body being supported from the vehicleframe; four roof mounting points located on the roof and supported fromthe armored body, the four roof mounting points being located atvertices of a rectangle with the armored body providing for transferringloads imposed at the roof mounting points to the vehicle frame; and fourframe support points installed on the vehicle frame and located atvertices of a rectangle; pairs of the frame support and roof mountingpoints being vertically aligned; and the frame support points and theroof mounting points including mutually cooperating fittings. 7-11.(canceled)